Best 10x Superzoom for m43

[medon78]

This is IMHO the best 10x superzoom for m43 (as of 2017).

It won my personal challenge against the Olympus 14-150II and the Tamron 14-150.

The Panasonic 14-140 3.5-5.6 (so the Mk. II, Mk. I had a slightly slower aperture around 4.0-5.8 or so) is INCREDIBLE.

It has no single major annoyance; image quality is excellent to good under all conditions.

At the long end, things improve a little by stopping down from f/5.6 to f/8.0 or so, but this is it.

One minor annoyance is a fairly strong vignetting at the long end, which is not fully compensatable on my Olympus E-M10 Mk. I.

Besides this: The pictures come out very clean, sharp, and colorful.

This zoom lens, albeit being already several years on the market, it a top-performer.

It outperforms old-fashioned superzooms like the Canon APS-C 18-200mm BY FAR.

In fact, the Panasonic 14-140 is so good, that in terms of sharpness and picture quality there is no need to swap it for a prime like the m.zuikos (17 1.8, 25 1.8, 45 1.8, 12 2.0).

Of course, if you need more light, then the primes are the way to go. But under daylight, the Panasonic rocks.

This lens is almost glued to my E-M10. It is a perfect match and makes the ideal travel and day-to-day combo for me.

 

[Soulhand]

> It won my personal challenge against the Olympus 14-150II and the Tamron 14-150.

Did you try those lenses too? Or was it a paper/specs comparison?

I have the Olympus. I like it too I especially like that it's weathersealed (not as big an advantage to you, of course, with the E-M10)

 

[_vlad]

Agree completely.

On top of that for Panny bodies from GX80 up - it is DualIS-2 compatible (GX80 only Dual IS). Shooting around 0,3s at 140mm (with success rate 3:1) is nothing short of a "miracle".

 

[medon78]

> It won my personal challenge against the Olympus 14-150II and the Tamron 14-150.

Did you try those lenses too? Or was it a paper/specs comparison?

Yes, I had all three of them. First the Tamron (sent it back), then the Olympus (sent it back), finally the Panasonic (kept it).

Would buy it again if I broke it.

 

[jwilliams]

Curious how much better it was than the Oly 14-150 II, especially at the long end? It seems this is where most super zooms fall down in IQ the most. I tested my Oly 14-150 II against my Canon 18-135 IS STM and the canon was better. Most noticeable at the long end. The difference wasn't huge for most of the range and I would still say the 14-150 II is fine for its intended use, but it is always nice have have something better if possible.

 

[wrbluepearl]

It outperforms old-fashioned superzooms like the Canon APS-C 18-200mm BY FAR.

I used to have the Canon 18-200 when I shot Canon crop bodies - it wasn't the best lens in my arsenal but it was very handy for those "only take one lens" situations (like auto races and football games, where you can't carry a camera bag in as a spectator).

I got a Panasonic 14-140 II in a kit with my G7 last year, and it is definitely a step up from the Canon 18-200. The Canon had a little more reach on the long end (roughly 320mm vs. 280mm 35mm equivalence for the Panasonic) but the Panasonic's IQ is definitely better. Next to the 12-35 f/2.8, the 14-140 looks a little flat; its color rendition isn't as good and it's not quite as sharp or contrasty...but it's still miles better than some of the junk I used to use.

With my wife and daughter now shooting u4/3 I may have to get a second 14-140! They were fighting over who got to use it the other night...wife normally wins, and daughter has to settle for the 12-60 kit lens...

 

[Androole]

This is IMHO the best 10x superzoom for m43 (as of 2017).

It won my personal challenge against the Olympus 14-150II and the Tamron 14-150.

The Panasonic 14-140 3.5-5.6 (so the Mk. II, Mk. I had a slightly slower aperture around 4.0-5.8 or so) is INCREDIBLE.

It has no single major annoyance; image quality is excellent to good under all conditions.

At the long end, things improve a little by stopping down from f/5.6 to f/8.0 or so, but this is it.

One minor annoyance is a fairly strong vignetting at the long end, which is not fully compensatable on my Olympus E-M10 Mk. I.

Besides this: The pictures come out very clean, sharp, and colorful.

This zoom lens, albeit being already several years on the market, it a top-performer.

It outperforms old-fashioned superzooms like the Canon APS-C 18-200mm BY FAR.

In fact, the Panasonic 14-140 is so good, that in terms of sharpness and picture quality there is no need to swap it for a prime like the m.zuikos (17 1.8, 25 1.8, 45 1.8, 12 2.0).

Of course, if you need more light, then the primes are the way to go. But under daylight, the Panasonic rocks.

This lens is almost glued to my E-M10. It is a perfect match and makes the ideal travel and day-to-day combo for me.

It is indeed a pretty impressive lens. Now Panasonic just needs to issue a quick refresh that incorporates weather-sealing, now that they have so many WR bodies and other lenses. This is the lens that really deserves it.

14-140 Mk. III?

 

[jeffharris]

This is IMHO the best 10x superzoom for m43 (as of 2017).

No argument there. It's surprisingly good for what it is. In good light, it's comparable to my 12-40mm. That surprised me!

This zoom lens, albeit being already several years on the market, it a top-performer.

In fact, the Panasonic 14-140 is so good, that in terms of sharpness and picture quality there is no need to swap it for a prime like the m.zuikos (17 1.8, 25 1.8, 45 1.8, 12 2.0).

The 14-140mm II is a good zoom, but let's not go overboard.

Of course, if you need more light, then the primes are the way to go. But under daylight, the Panasonic rocks.

Yep.

This lens is almost glued to my E-M10. It is a perfect match and makes the ideal travel and day-to-day combo for me.

I bought one for my girlfriend and she likes it a lot. I use it occasionally and am always surprised by the results I get. The range and convenience of not having to change lenses too often make it great for travel.

 

[Vesku]

If you want to shoot video without IBIS the 14-140mm II OIS is vibrating and making micro jittering. Video with this lens needs post stabilization.

 

[Stejo]

If you want to shoot video without IBIS the 14-140mm II OIS is vibrating and making micro jittering. Video with this lens needs post stabilization.

It really doesn't. I got tons of handheld videos at 140mm with the G7, so no dual IS that are perfectly fine and not jittery in the slightest. Sure, they're not tripod steady, but they're about as good as you can hope for from a really good optical stabilization.

 

[the-bunker]

I've had a lot of M43 & APS-C lenses over the years - including a fair number of superzooms (eg: sigma, tamron, olympus, nikon & panasonic)- and imho the Panny 14-140 mkII is easily the best I've ever owned. The biggest problem with superzooms is distortion, CA fringing & softness - but the little panny 14-140 mkII keeps all of these under control across the range. And now with dual IBIS on some recent Panasonic cameras it is even better.

No superzoom will ever beat a decent prime though & for M43 we are spoilt for choice - my personal recommendations for those on a limited budget are:

- Panasonic 20mm f1.7
- Sigma 30mm f2.8
- Olympus 45mm f1.8
- Sigma 60mm f2.8

The sharpest is the Sigma 60mm (also one of the cheapest). The most useful is the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 - it's compact & works well for street photography, especially at night. None of these has built in stabilisation though, so it's worth thinking about a camera with IBIS to make the most of these lenses.

It's also worth thinking about the Olympus 9mm body cap lens - it takes no space & gives you that wide angle shot when you need it. It works best for landscapes as it's not very sharp for anything close up.

Finally if you want anything longer than the Panasonic 14-140, then I would choose the Panasonic 100-400 if you can afford it. It is an amazing lens & the dual IBIS is outstanding. It's heavy though. I had to take mine back because of an old shoulder injury - so now I am trying to decide whether to use the Panny 100-300 or Olympus 75-300. They are very similar for sharpness in my tests. The Olympus has more contrast (which makes you think the images are sharper), and the Panasonic has better colours.

 

[Vesku]

If you want to shoot video without IBIS the 14-140mm II OIS is vibrating and making micro jittering. Video with this lens needs post stabilization.

It really doesn't. I got tons of handheld videos at 140mm with the G7, so no dual IS that are perfectly fine and not jittery in the slightest. Sure, they're not tripod steady, but they're about as good as you can hope for from a really good optical stabilization.

Congrats for your "tripod" steady hands. My 14-140mm vibrates and jitters even at 14mm when shooting using EVF and best relaxed position I can.

My old 14-42mm lens is rock steady and pleasing hand held at 14mm.

 

[gary0319]

My wife has the Panny version and I have the Olympus version. I took them both out and shot them on the same camera body to compare. I found little if any difference in IQ.

The Panny has OIS, the Oly relays on the camera stabilization.

The Panny focuses a little closer and is a tad smaller.

The Olympus is weather sealed, the Panny is not.

For me the deciding factor was that I got the Olympus on a refurbished sale for cheap.

Ether one is a good choice.

 

[medon78]

Curious how much better it was than the Oly 14-150 II, especially at the long end?

The Pana 14-140 is more even across the frame at 140. The Oly 14-150 II got softer at the long end, especially off-center frame.

The Pana 14-140 is also best at the wide end, as almost every other zoom lens, BUT 140 is pefectly usable. Still, a 40-150 or 75-300 will get slightly better results (around 140mm).

Actually though I would probably not notice the difference, when not pixel-peeping.

 

[Friedrich49]

I also like the pana 14-140 II a lot. It is my most used lens for travelling. I love the short focus distsance 30 cm by 140mm. That means wonderfull flower macros. For night and low light I add the panleica 15mm and for wider angle special church I have the 2,5 14mm with pana wide angle converter ca 10,5mm. That is my fine travel combo all in a little Billingham made for Leica bag. Camera GX7.

 

[Pete Berry]

Waaay back in '09, I believe, I got the GH1 with the original 14-140 kit lens. While it was excellent in the lower FL's, it fell off significantly in the upper range, as did my adapted 4/3 12-60, that was curiously also quite soft on the edges wide (but not on my 4/3 Oly E-30).

Sold both, and got the highly reviewed, large, heavy, expensive P=L 14-150, which has graced each GH generation since, now my GH5. Stopped down a bit, it's sharp on 17-22" prints to the corners. Slower to focus than native lenses - maybe .25 sec - it fits my shooting style, And sharp the whole range, It's my basket of slow primes, and along with the 7-14 on asecond body in a belt holster, a perfect travel kit for me. Probably out of production now...

Pete

 

[SterlingBjorndahl]

I agree, it's an amazing lens.

Sterling
--
Lens Grit

 

[tokyojerry]

This lens is almost glued to my E-M10. It is a perfect match and makes the ideal travel and day-to-day combo for me.

I reckon then one can readily presume this lens should also be good for use with the E-M10 Mark-II as well then. I really want to get Oly's 12-100mm Pro lens with their new flagship E-M1 Mark-II, but, I just don't have the budget for those quite yet. I figured this will be a good stop gap measure for a couple events coming up this summer. And, with Power OIS I presume also that this can be used with those cameras which now support Dual I.S. ?

-
Jerry S.
(a.k.a. tokyojerry)

 

[tokyojerry]

I would also add Panasonic 15mm / f1.7. Provides a bit more usefulness wide angle and is still reasonably priced.

 

[BillSprague]

If you want to shoot video without IBIS the 14-140mm II OIS is vibrating and making micro jittering. Video with this lens needs post stabilization.

Mine did that on a GX7. It does not do it on my GX8 with lens and body firmware updates. I don't know if the improvement came with the new camera or the firmware.